Plate-lifter



(NoModeL) I M. CHURCHILL.

. Plat 'Lifters.

Wiiness es 1m) e flov.

Y J' J44] N-PETERS, PNOTOJJTNQGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, 11c.

Patehte'd July 20, I880.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES CHURCHILL, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

PLATE-Ll FTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 230,108, dated July 20,1880.

Application filed May 27, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Moses CHURCHILL, ofLowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Plate-Lifters, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The nature of my invention consists in a device for lifting hot platesor dishes from the oven or stove, the same being made with a handle intwo pieces hinged together so as to tilt from end to end, so that apressure by the hand on one end of the handle will open the other end,and by means of connecting-rods close together toward a common center anumber of arms suspended similarly to the bows of an inverted umbrella.When the arms are so drawn they will clasp under the edge of a plate byhooks on the outer end of said arms.

In the drawing, which is a perspective view, A and B are the two partsof the handle, 0 the joint which unites them. at c f are offsetsradiating from the side of the end B b, (a fourth one being obscured,)from which the arms G H J K are suspended, the lower ends, G e, H 0, Jc, and K e, of said arms being hooked to support the edge of the plate TT. Y

S is a piece with a hole in the middle, and slides on apost, P,projecting from the under side ofthe end B b ofthe handle A B. L, M, N,and O are rods which, by a loop at each end, connect the arms G H J Kwith the slide S.

r 'r is a-rod which is secured at one end into the side of the slide S,passes up loosely through a hole in the side of the end B-b, thence overthe top of the upper half, at A a. of the handle A B, and thence downloosely through a hole on the other side of the end B l) and securelyinto the other side of the slide S.

V is a spiral spring which presses against the under side of the end B band the upper side of the slide S, and serves to spread the two parts ofthe handle and the arms G H J K,

and thereby disengage and let free the plate and prepare the instrumentfor use.

' The device is operated by pressing together the outer end of thehandle, which opens the other end, A a and B 1), moves the slide S onthe post P, compresses the spring V, draws upward the connecting-rods L,M, N, and O, contracting the diametrical distances between the hooks H eand K e, and J c and G 0, thereby grasping the plate T T under the rim.

On removing the pressure on the handle the spring causes the arms toopen, and the plate is freed.

The advantages of my improvement are that a single and perfectly naturalgrasp of the hand around the handle will close together the arms, sothat the greater the weight of the plate or dish the more firmly andsecurely is it held, in consequence of the tendency of a heavy load onthe arms to draw them toward a common center by the combined action ofthe arms G'H J K and the connecting-rods L M N O, and slide S on thepost P.

1. The plate-lifter consisting of the arms G H J K, in combination Withthe ofl'sets d e f, 8tc., connecting-rods L M N O, the slide S,operating on the post P by the spring V, and the duplex rod 1" r, or itsequivalent, operated by the handle A B, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

2. The device consistingof the armsG HJ K, operating in combination withthe ofi'sets (1 cf, 860., connecting-rods L M N O, the slide S, and theduplex rod 1 r, by the handle A B, without the post P, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

MOSES CHURCHILL.

Witnesses CHARLES PIGEON, S. H. OHERRINeToN.

